Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Forty people have been arrested in two waves of arrests, with a buildup of 50 to 70 police cars during the arrests. One woman thrown against a vehcile during the arrest, one woman handcuffed with bailing string. Police sharpshooters were on the roof, aimed at women and children. The Yankton were unarmed.

The land is being torn apart in the heart of Yankton land, one-half mile from the Headstart. The Yankton Indian Nation was never consulted about the polluting, disease producing hog farm. The hog farm is being quickly constructed now, with more than a dozen concrete trucks rolling in and out quickly tonight. The earth is being torn apart. Yankton call for support!

Dennis Banks came today to support Yankton defending their sovereign land.

We were live tonight and will be live again here at the site on Thursday:

Mohawk Nation NewsApril 28, 2008. Canada and Phil Fontaine of the “Assembly of Colonial First Nations” would like to see us standing by the side of the road with our heads down, tears rolling down our cheeks and handing out pamphlets on their “Aboriginal Day of Action” on May 29th. [Beware! It’s an Indigenous “set up” day!] Many think this should be “watch the goons day”. We could walk, drive or bicycle through the roads, streets and highways of our communities and document police brutality and oppression. We’ll be needing a great big notebook for this. Non-Indigenous communities have their problems with cops too. Maybe they’ll join us. Recently a young student was given a $628 ticket for “sitting on a wall in a park” and for snapping pictures of them on his cell phone. They were harassing homeless people. We should be monitoring these colonial henchmen. It’s come to the point now where it’s not really safe to go out alone anymore. The abuse has got to stop. Take cameras, cell phones, become a witness and make good notes. We need names, badge numbers and photos of the abuse and the abusers. Then we should file complaints, take them to court and put pressure on politicians who cave into police pressure. We need “know-your-rights” classes. “Watch the goons” should make periodical reports and publish them regularly on the internet. We want to reduce Police Violence Through Accountability; and to Empower and Unite our communities by looking out for each other. [From: berkeley-copwatch@lists.riseup.net] In Montreal when the Montreal Canadians hockey team won their series against the Boston Bruins, there was a riot on St. Catherine Street . The media coverage showed cop cars being burnt and kids jumping up and down on top of the cars. Many young people were assaulted and arrested. The police confiscated mainstream media footage so no one could see that they has gotten out of their cars, went over to a crowd of young people and started smashing them for no reason at all. People with phone cameras put these images on the internet. It was an emotional response to abuse. The cops have become the worse abusers. Watch out for agent provocateurs. They arrive dressed like us, with back packs on their back full of rocks and other implements. They start throwing these at the police and then disappear into the crowd. We get the blame. Let’s face it, cops are attracted to violence. They can’t stand peaceful people. So they try to stir things up so they can use all the expensive toys they claim to need. One of their most despicable tactics is to target and attack young women. This provokes otherwise peaceful men to come to their defense who are then beaten and arrested. What a violent profession. We do not approve of the theory that peace can be gained by violent means. The cops assume that those who protest their abuse must be under the spell of some kind of “leader”. They don’t want their misdeeds to be made public. There is nothing original about what the cops are doing. They phone the acquaintances of their target and try to get information or get them on side, even offer money and safety. Safety from what! Them? What’s the difference between police action and extortion? In other words, don’t have a leader for them to target!The cops want more control in Southeastern Ontario because it’s getting harder to illegally siphon the resources of enlightened Indigenous people. The highly trained people like doctors, miners, scientists, politicians, military and corporation heads need relative order to go about their job of stealing our water and energy. The factory jobs are now outsourced. This area is being built up for the elites. We Indigenous people are in their way. This puts us at risk. They still have depopulation plans for us in areas where they don’t want us. Haudenosaunee Territory includes prime land and a vast watershed. For example, condos were going to be built on the beautiful Bay of Quinte until we stopped it. The elite always want to be on the water. We Mohawks spoil their view. These condos might have been for the workers at the new proposed U.S. Joint Task Force 2 Training Base that is being set up at Trenton Ontario , just a 20-minute drive from Tyendinaga. Sharbot Lake-Robertsville Mine site is half way between Trenton and Petawawa Army Bases. Sharbot Lake is also half way between Port Hope and Chalk River, which have the most depleted uranium stored for use by the military to make bombs. Trenton Army Base is right near Port Hope to guard that nuclear waste. Petawawa soldiers would be available to clean up nuclear messes at Chalk River, as happened in 1958 when one of the research reactors took a leak. The colonists don’t want all-out warfare here. In guerilla warfare our great strength is when we are on our home turf. We know it and we feel the power that comes from being truly Indigenous. This is not understood by the colonists. They come from fragmented and abused backgrounds. They don’t know what a real community is. In their ignorance they’ve fallen under the delusion that they have to use “low level” warfare by attacking, harassing, taking prisoners, breaking our arms, surrounding us from time to time and putting out bad stories about us to scare the public. The alternative, peaceful co-existence, is simply unthinkable to them. Their psychological warfare strategies are meant to destroy all hope amongst our people and sow seeds of terror in our communiies. They want to create fear and submission. The cops wear armor and cover their faces with hideous visors and shave their heads like fascists. They are loaded with so much equipment they can hardly hear, see or move. These cops are scared and not sure why they’re in our communities pointing guns at unarmed people but they’re getting big pay. There are women and children on the roads too. The cops stand there shivering afraid of what will happen to them if they don’t follow the crazy orders they are being given. The Mohawks took some of the stuffing out of the OPP cops who have been trying out some of their low level warfare tactics on us which aren’t working. If we have courage and know we are right in what we are doing, then we will stand up to them. This perplexes them. They thought it was going to be over a long time ago. Obviously they haven’t read their history. We’re still here after 400 years. And we ain’t going nowhere.Our persistence and perseverance comes from our ancestors. We are so well rooted with nourishment from the land. A “transplant’s” root has to adjust for a long time to gain strength from the earth, but their roots really don’t take. Most of them tumble about like rolling stones, shifting with every twist and turn of the bankrupt and exploitive economy they brought here. Such transplants need a lot of crutches – like guns, propaganda, barking vicious dogs, choppers, sirens, floodlights, loud noises, UAVs [unarmed aerial vehicles for “peeping tom” surveillance], victims to target and lots of larceny. Their next step is to throw us all into their colonial jails and courts. These transplants keep trying to replace the Ongwehonwe of Onowaregeh. It hasn’t happened and never will. We keep popping up. The natural world has decreed that we shall always be here doing our job, taking care of the land, plants, animals, water and air.The non-natives who are organized against us are not political. Otherwise they would be on our side. They would realize their own oppression and abuse by the colonists. The police hire provocateurs to mobilize them. They help set up situations that make it look good for the cops to come in. They made the recent riot at Six Nations look like the OPP were protecting the Indigenous people from the angry vigilantes from Caledonia . This makes the conservatives start okaying money for more policing and more force against us. For the cops this means job security and more opportunity to take out vengeance on us. It’s part of some big plan of a few people. It’s called “mobilizing the masses” to “harmonize the peripheries with the center”. The peripheries are Mexico and Canada and the center is the U.S. , of course. They rile up society so they will get a bigger budget, be in greater demand and get control over everybody. The center wants “death squad” type policing like in Chicago , New York , Toronto and Los Angeles , where they hit the people, do open racial profiling and are extremely corrupt internally. Is this happening in all Indigenous communities right now worldwide? On May 29th Canada with their chief provocateur, Phil Fontaine, who wants to cash in on the re-enactment of the “Sand Creek Massacre”, are coming in with a plan to push the “final solution”. Watch out. Be ready! Kahentinetha Horn -MNN Mohawk Nation News

Longest Walk Talk Radio, cohosts Govinda Dalton and Brenda Norrell, are back in Kansas on the northern route of the Longest Walk. We are joined by Dennis Banks, cofounder of the American Indian Movement, from the southern route, at the Kansas Capitol today, Tuesday.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Nevada Test Site Oral HistoriesThe Nevada Test Site Oral History Project includes the voices and memories of American Indians, including spiritual leader Corbin Harney and other Western Shoshone and peace activists.

The project at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is a comprehensive program about the Nevada Test Site during the era of Cold War nuclear testing.

There are interviews with more than 150 people totaling 335 hours. Searchable transcripts, selected audio and video clips, scanned photographs and images are available on this website.

TWENTY-EIGHT RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL GRAVE SITES IDENTIFIED – WHERE IS THE MEDIA?Group of 1,500+ members question media silence on report of mass grave locations(press statement)On April 10, 2008, the Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared held a press conference and public ceremony in which they released a list of twenty-eight reported mass graves across Canada - the graves of aboriginal children who died while in Indian Residential Schools.Traditional media sources have ignored this heartbreaking and important story. A Facebookgroup “Mass Graves of Residential School Children Identified – Where Is the Media?” was started on April 18, and in less than a week had over1,000 members. That number is now at 1,500 and still climbing. The group was formed to encourage members to contact the media to demand investigation into these reported grave sites.The many abuses that First Nations children suffered at the hands of the church-operated, government funded Residential Schools are no longer secret. We know that aboriginal children were torn from their homes and families. Many were subjected to or witnesses of physical and/or sexual abuse. They died of diseases like tuberculosis at alarming rates, as reported last April by the Globe and Mail. An estimated 50,000Residential school students are missing, their fate a mystery.Now, from eyewitness accounts, documents, survey data and physical evidence, a list of 28 grave sites has been compiled and released, where allegedly the bodies of Residential school students were unceremoniously interred. Their deaths went unreported to their families. The devastating generational legacy of the Residential schools is tragedy enough. The insulting, degrading burial of the First Nations children who died while in church and government care warrants investigation and attention.And yet, the traditional media remains largely mute about this important piece of Canadian history.It is our right to know our heritage and our past,even if it fills us with sadness and shame. The only way to address this is to ensure that this story sees the light of day under public scrutiny, and that there is a full investigation is to make it become part of the public knowledge and consideration.Please consider covering this topic in the very near future. It is in the public interest, and we must finally have the truth.List of the grave sites can be found here:http://hiddenfromhistory.org/RecentUpdatesampArticles/Apr102008LocationofMassGravesRevealed/tabid/71/Default.aspxContact:pale.cold@gmail.commailto:proleatacr@gmail.comGroup:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=11679618549&ref=mf

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Seventh Session, New York,April 21 to May 2, 2008.

Joint Statement Submitted by the International Indian Treaty Council and the Indigenous Environmental Network

Item 4: Implementation of the six mandated areas of the Permanent Forum and on the Millennium Development Goals, f) Human RightsThank you Madame Chair and Respectful greetings to all Delegations. We join with all other delegations to congratulate the world community and the 144 member states who voted to finally recognize Indigenous Peoples as full members of the family of Nations on September 13th 2007. We now have a solid floor and a universally recognized minimum standard for the, promotion and defense of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights, to which all UN member states are accountable.The Declaration reaffirms Indigenous Peoples' right to free prior and informed consent in all matters affecting our lives, lands and ways of life. The Declaration also affirms the obligation of UN member states to uphold the rights affirmed in Nation- to- Nation Treaties they have signed with Indigenous Nations and calls upon the International community to take responsibility to ensure this is carried out.We call your attention to an urgent situation in which the human rights of the Dakota Indigenous Nation is being violated in South Dakota, United States. Various provisions of the UN Declaration including Treaty Rights, rights to own control and use traditional Lands, territories and resources, and the Right to Free Prior Informed Consent over development actives are being violated.At this time, the Ihanktowan Dakota, known as the Yankton Sioux Tribe based in Marty, South Dakota is protesting violations of human rights and the Tribe’s sovereignty including violations of the 1851 Treaty between the U.S. Government and the Dakota Nation (Sioux). On April 15, Yankton Sioux Tribal members began a peaceful protest against the construction of a large scale corporate hog farm which will be operated by Long View Farms based in Hull, Iowa.Tribal members are calling attention to the environmental degradation the hog farm will bring to the reservation and surrounding communities. The air quality in the community will be impacted and the threat of contamination to surface and ground water due to shallow aquifers in the area, posing serious threats to community health.The proposed hog farm site, projected to permanently house more than 3000 sows and produce 70,000 pigs each year, is located within Treaty lands recognized as belonging to the Dakota (Sioux) Nation and is surrounded by Indian reservation land. Tribal and local community members are blocking an access road to the site which is under the jurisdiction of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. The Yankton Sioux Tribe has filed a lawsuit opposing the construction of this facility which will use approximately one million gallons of water and produce over 7 million gallons of liquid hog waste a year. Its proposed location is only four miles from the Missouri River, a major source of water for many communities and home to many endangered species. Parents of a pre- school located less than three miles from the proposed site have also filed a lawsuit based on the health threats to their children. US federal laws mandating an Environmental Impact Statement and public hearings before such projects can be implemented have also been violated.The Sheriff of Charles Mix County and the South Dakota Highway Patrol have initiated a police occupation of Indian land on the Yankton Reservation. More than 70 county, state and federal law enforcement officials, including homeland security officers, with armed swat teams and dogs, snipers with automatic weapons and helicopters are being used to contain a peaceful non-violent action with women and children present. In the last week, thirty eight people have been arrested including minors and elders. The state of South Dakota does not have jurisdictional authority on federal trust land and is therefore violating the sovereignty of the Yankton Sioux Tribe within its own borders.The Yankton Sioux tribal members are asking if these State of South Dakota and federal law enforcement officials are being used to protect corporate interests at the expense of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska have written resolutions opposing the hog farm. Additional information has been provided to the North America member of the Permanent Forum for review by all members of the Forum.The United States joined with only 3 other countries at the General Assembly last year to vote against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and on that basis has attempted to maintain that the Declaration does not apply to them. We remind the US government that their own Constitution, Article 6 states that “Treaties are the supreme law of the land”. We also remind them that on March 7th 2008, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) released its recommendations in response to the United States’ Periodic Report, and recommended that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples be used by the US as a “guide to interpret the State Party’s obligations under the Convention relating to Indigenous Peoples”. This recommendation ties the implementation of the UN Declaration by the US and other state parties to the legally binding obligations of all state parties to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.Indigenous Peoples are not alone in recognizing that Industrial livestock production poses a serious threat to the environmental integrity and health, both where it is located as well as around the world. In its recent report, “The Long Shadow of Livestock”, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) cited large scale livestock production as a major source of greenhouse gasses, water contamination and land degradation.The IITC therefore recommends that the UNPFII7th session:Transmit without delay the most urgent and critical human rights situat ions which Indigenous Peoples have presented to this session, including those caused by unsustainable imposed development, to the new Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the UN Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the High Commissioner on Human Rights to ensure further investigation and responseCongratulate Human Rights Council for the resolution adopted at its last session “Human Rights and Climate Change [A/HRC/7/L.21], calling upon the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights to undertake a detailed analytical study of the relationship between climate change and human rights, and to submit a separate report as the UNPFII containing the information and testimonies which have been presented to this session to the UN Human Rights Council for inclusion in this Study.In closing Madame Chair, we thank you for this time and your attention, and we ask that the UNPF determine additional ways that it can monitor, encourage and otherwise support the UN system to fully integrate and implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at all levels, and in all UN bodies and agencies.

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Press Release: Yankton Head Start Parents

The Yankton Sioux Tribe Head Start (YSTHS) concerned Parents are not an entity of the Yankton Sioux Tribe but parents and Grandparents which consist of YST, other Tribal parents, non Indian contributors, and common people supporting the children and families enrolled in the YSTHS program therefore are not under the Authority of the Tribe.That the YSTHS Concerned Parents Law Suit is on behalf of our children's Environmental Health and Safety, working independently towards the best Interest of our children and families.Although the YST is regulated by city, state, county, YST B&CC and BIA Agencies, not one is protecting the Rights, Health and Safety of our children And families. Instead the city, state, county, YST B&CC and BIA are Protecting the interest of a foreign company with all owners residing in Hull, Iowa.The YSTHS Concerned Parent are not represented by the YST B&CC and their Attorney Charles Abourezk. Nor have received funding from the YST B&CC. All contributors are Parents, Grandparents, local non- Indian farmers, different tribal members, other supporters concerned with the Overall environmental protection, rights to clear air and clean water, Which includes the water beneath the ground. Any act to dismiss Federal proceeding and due process rights is a hostile act against our Children and future generations to come.In closing we pray that federal laws will be upheld and protect our Children’s federal right. Passing on the words of an elder from Rosebud. "This is not economic Development but in fact economic Genocide and this is our children's and future generation's landWater, and, God. We are only here to protect those who cannot Protect themselves. It is our right and our honor, if we do nothing Then we are also neglecting our children.Sincerely,Members of the YSTHS Concerned ParentsContact #: (605) 491-2674 or (605) 491-2827Anyone who wishes to contribute to the YSTHS Concern ParentsMail check or money order to:Concerned Parent FundC/O Robin BairBox 34 Wagner, SD 57380

E nga Iwi katoa, mihimihi tatou.Ehoa maI am a Kaumatua (Elder) of Te Kaiaio uri of TE WHANAU A APANUIiwi ("tribe") on East Cape, New Zealand.We are currently in Negotiation with the NZ Govt aka "The Crown" overrestoration of our "tribal Rights" to manage our lands and resources, and have been able to call an INTERIM "stay" on all development projects not carrying approval of any Hapu ("subtribe") concerned.Given that the Govts of NZ,Canada and the US seem to be singing from similar song sheets vis a vis"aboriginal affairs" these days, though the venues are set up slightly differently, we need to be alert to what is happening on the ground and be quick with what support we can offer.A near neighbour Iwi of ours was invaded by SWAT - type forces recently,on "anti-terr" grounds subsequently quashed, but many of those arrested still face "Firearms charges". We are sure that this outrage is connected to a certain agreement centred in "your " national capital. and this viewpoint was well aired in our national Press, which was overjoyed to have the consequent debacle to wallow in. This not quite the point that NZMaori wish to make, but it gave us useful headlines and has added to the"injustice"profile. The Ngai Tuhoe Iwi got wide international support atthe time, and some of that filtered through as well.As you know, publicity is about the biggest tool in the box these days.For generations it was used against us all but the tide is turning somewhat, for various reasons of course but if the horse is going our waylets swing into the saddle. NZ is a small country (about the size of Wyoming) but it happens to have some useful attributes internationally,including a fairly vigorous protest community and an accessible media.Maori TV, a national public broadcaster with a mix of Maori and English programming, has increasing widespread support for the quality of its service and is starting to reach out for overseas stories. It has just launched an exclusive "Reo Maori"(local language) channel, which will takeover some of the specialised Maori topics and hopefully allow for more indigenous political coverage.We share many health and social problems, unknown before colonisation,which need urgent airing. NZ Public services aren't too bad but overstretched as most are, and the NZ Pakeha (white) population moans quite a bit about "extra' resources being sqaundered(!) on "lazy natives". That there is something very wrong with the consequences of colonialism world wide barely penetrates the general consciousness, tho the Global Warming thing is stirring the brain cells inNZ these days. Publicising the "common cause" in Health and Education,both of which all people can relate to, is one vehicle to get the message across. Diabetes, alcoholism, domestic assaults, school truancy, youth gangs - our people never suffered these sorts of afflictions before colonisation, and those who hold the chains of power these days must be pressured into accepting they have inherited a heavy burden of responsibility, even if in their long term interest as well. We all have our local issues, and on behalf of my Hapu I forward heartfelt support foryour stand with regards to the "Hog farm" and say "Kia Kaha" (Be Strong) to those in detention.I am Chairman of our Marae (Longhouse?) Committee, and a Founding Trustee/Board Member of Te Runanga o Te Whanau, the Development Oganisation which these past 20 years has been working to lift our Iwi(consisting of 13 subtribes) out of the shackles of the Dept of Maori Affairs (now disbanded thank god). (We refuse to "register" our tribeunder Parliamentary Law, but use existing "Service Bodies" legislation to set up groups to do the work on the Peoples behalf. For instance I am Chair of a "Water Services Trust" recently registered as a "Charity" toget homes in our Hapu quality, reticulated water. As such we are eligible for funding, whereas the Hapu itself is not!) We have gone through plenty of turmoil, family fights, failed ventures etc , our founding Elders have passed on and those who have stepped up realise how little we know, but we are pushing on, as is the rest of Maoridom and our Iwi has recently joined the Indigenous Nations Organisation formed by "American FirstNations".bodies.Being aged 70, I'm stepping aside from "active service" - we need to putthe younger sector into the lead and Ive work of my own to finish, including a look back over what has been going on for us these past three or four decades.The "Anglophile"Goverments all derive their laws from the English Westminster structure,and they can be challenged on very similar grounds where indigenous communities are involved. I will protest to the US Embassy here, and encourage others to do likewise.I wish your people all the very best success in this current struggle,Kia Ora ratou - Kia KahaTony Chadwick, Te Whanau a Kaiaio.

Photo: Yankton face off with South Dakota State Police on Indian land, protesting hog farm. Courtesy photo.

On Friday April 25th at 2:45pm EST OPP surrounded the quarries inTyendinaga demanding the surrender of the Mohawks. Guns were drawnand violence ensued on the part of the police. This is following theOPP's swarm of Mohawk Territory earlier this week which was theresponse to halting of construction of a development site thatencroaches onto Mohawk territory that a group of warriors had takenover.2 years ago we made a promise that if the OPP harmed the Haudenosauneagain, we would take action and show KKKanada that we will standunited against police oppression and the governments theft of ourlands.Actions have already taken place in Awkwesasne and Kahnawake, SixNations has resurrected Barricades and were threatened with an OPPraid yesturday afternoon. Because of the overwhelming support thatreturned to Kahnonstaton reclamation site (the protected place andformerly the Douglas Creek Estates) the raid was called off and theHighway 6 Bypass remains closed.In Tyendinaga, the quarries have been blocked off by police and thereis only one entrance through the reserve to the quarries. They arestill holding strong despite 6 arrests, physical violence inflicted onyoung people (a young man had both arms broken by police) and despitenews reports that denied this fact, guns were pointed at our children. They are currently requesting actions of support as well asdonations for food and supplies. See more info at bottom of email.Tyendinaga and Six Nations SolidarityAction of Support on Coast Salish TerritoryMonday, April 27th, 20082:30 - Meet @ China Creek Skate ParkLocated at East Broadway and Clark DriveBring your flags, banners and voices!Wear Red to show your solidarity!Banner/Sign/Placard Making PartySunday April 26th, 20083:00 - 9:00@ Purple Thistle Centrehttp://www.purplethistle.ca/ for location details*** purple thistle is one block SOUTH of Venables and one block WEST of Clarkring buzzer to be let in.All Welcome and there will be food!==> Requested Action from Mohawk Nation News:CALL Ontario Provicial Police & advise them that the world is watching: 24hour communications center OPP: 1-888-310-1122OPP Eastern Headquarters: 613-284-4500

A national coalition of over 50 local, state and national organizations are participating in walk from Tucson to Phoenix beginning May 2 to call for an end to racially fomented hate crimes. The ten-day peaceful walk will end with a rally in downtown Phoenix on Mother’s Day, May 11, honoring mothers for teaching children to treat all human beings with equal dignity.

Kucinich letter of support:“Dear Friends,Thank you for your courageous "Citizen's Walk for Human Dignity". Events like this are very important if we are to achieve respect for the civil rights and human rights of all people. Your effort in Arizona is important for America. Each step you take is an affirmation of the power of the human spirit to respond powerfully to oppression. Every step you take challenges the system to be respectful of human dignity. Every step you take helps America to take a new direction so that we may one day soon reach that place where the rights of all people are respected. Si Se Puede.”Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich

Message from Jay Johnson CastroAs citizens of the United States,We call on each and every US Congressperson and US Senator to join the people of this country, who want our government and our country to be the model of human dignity. You don’t have to walk with us. Just STAND WITH US…in solidarity. Will you join us in our demand for the cessation of hate crimes and racially prejudiced profiling by law enforcement officials that are being committed with impunity in the name of the “rule of law” and on the pretext of national security?Of all the countries of the world, human dignity should be guaranteed to any member of our human family that lives within the boundaries of our United States of America, the land of the free. If we are going to enforce the “rule of law”, our county cannot go wrong, and can only be blessed, by applying the highest “rule of law”, the Golden Rule. That of doing unto others as we would want them to do unto us…if the shoe were on the other foot.Congressman Dennis Kucinich, along with his gracious wife, Elizabeth, has taken the lead on the part of nationally elected officials, in supporting the Citizens Walk for Human Dignity. The Citizens Walk organizers will be reaching out to and inviting all Congresspersons and Senators to show their solidarity with we the people for human dignity.To Governor Janet Napolitano. You have HB 2807 and HB 2359 on your desk that would turn your state into a prototype police state, one of tyranny and terror. If those bills are signed, without consideration of the impact on human rights and civil rights, there will be an escalation of the violations of human dignity that already exist in the State of Arizona. As it stands, Arizona, and in particular, Maricopa County are already considered Ground Zero of hate crimes, much as Selma, Alabama was some four decades ago.The already rampant violations by law enforcement officers of human rights, civil rights and constitutional rights will become epidemic in your state, and like a malignant cancer will spread all over the surface of our country. The terrorizing and victimizing of all people of color will escalate, including Arizona and US citizens. If you do not veto those bills, we appeal to you to consider delaying their signing until after the Citizens Walk for Human Dignity.Meanwhile, we are asking for the highest officials of the State of Arizona and of the US Congress to initiate an investigation, indictment, prosecution and conviction of any and all persons, especially those with a law enforcement badge, who would violate the sacredness of our freedoms.Who to contact:Rick Romero, Citizens Walk Coordinator (602) 515-9844; romero85008@yahoo.comAnnette Sexton-Ruiz, Citizens Walk Assistant Coordinator (602) 505-4147; annettesr44@yahoo.comPaul Fuschini, Tucson Citizens Walk Coordinator, (520) 490-2000; fuschini@sonoracohousing.comSarah Boone, Freedom Ambassadors, Secretary (830)768-1100, sboone@stx.rr.com.In solidarity…Jay.About the walk ...Among the more than 50 organizations endorsing the event are: LULAC National; Cesar Chavez March for Justice; National Indian Treaty Council; Border Angels; Freedom Ambassadors; National Network for Immigration and Refugee Rights; Veterans for Peace; Derechos Humanos; Humane Borders; Gente Unida;American Indian Movement; International Indian Treaty Council; Texas Indigenous Council; Border Ambassadors; Border Network for Human Rights; Southwest Workers Union; No Mas Muertes; LUPE; Somos America, the 42 member Phoenix coalition;IUE-CWA/AFL-CIO; Labor Council for Latin American Advancement AFL-CIO;Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law; Dallas Peace Center and MADRES.Groups as well as individuals are invited to participate in the walk for an hour, a mile, a day or whatever circumstances allow. The walk will begin immediately after a 10 a.m. rally on Friday, May 2 in downtown Tucson at the Plaza on South 6th Avenue, between 12th and 13th Streets.

(PHOTO: Protest of vigilante patrols and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, during a trip to Tucson by Arpaio in 2008. Photo Brenda Norrell)

Ciudad Juarez NewsCipriana Jurado, a prominent Ciudad Juarez women's rights activist, is now free after posting a $700 bond. The director of the Worker Research and Solidarity Center, Jurado was arrested by Mexican federal police outside her home on Wednesday, April 2. The veteran activist was charged with blocking a public roadway during an October 2005 protest ... Read more:http://frontera.nmsu.edu/today.htmlLipan Apache (El Calaboz) Women Community Built a Local-Global Movement...https://mysite.wsu.edu/personal/mtamez/calaboz/default.aspxOur case is supported by~~Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Lawhttp://www.centerforhumanrights.org/

Mohawks of Tyendinaga: UPDATE! OPP to take out Rotiskenekete at the quarry Mohawk Nation NewsApril 25, 2008Mohawks surrounded at the quarry in Tyendinaga. Ontario Provincial Police OPP fully armed with guns drawn. They are yelling through blow horns ordering the Rotiskenekete to come down with their hands up, or else they are going to take them out.The Rotiskenekete have told the OPP they are not coming down from there. We have been informed that help will probably not arrive in time. The OPP have said they are coming right away. There are 20 left at the quarry. Many have already been arrested. DO SOMETHING QUICK! WE HAVE TO SAVE OUR PEOPLE.FOR INFORMATION CALL: 518-358-3660; Warchief: 613-243-4993; Jan Hill 613-961-8515 613-827-1547; Dan 613-919-1354; Rotiskenekete 613-849-1314 613-827-4991; OPP Easter Headquarters 613-284-4500 L.G. Beechey Chief Supt. Commander Eastern RegionR. Don Maracle 613-396-3089 Cell 613-391-9249

GENOCIDE IS HAPPENING AT THIS HOUR AT TYENDINAGA. THEIR POSITION IS THEY ARE NOT MOVING. THEY ARE GOING DOWN. THEY WILL DEFEND THEMSELVES. THEY ARE NOT GIVING UP THE LAND.Kahentinetha HornMNN Mohawk Nation News

NEW YORK – A delegation of Indigenous Peoples from all over the world rallied at Sithe Global LLC in New York City, to ensure that Sithe understands the impacts of their proposed Desert Rock Energy Project on the local, Navajo people at the proposed site.Elouise Brown, President of the Dooda Desert Rock committee, and Enei Begaye, Executive Director of the Black Mesa Water Coalition, attempted to deliver a letter to Sithe telling them that local people do not support the project. Sithe did not meet with them.News reporters accompanied Elouise and Enei into the building, but were ordered to “leave immediately.” Enei and Elouise, as tribal members of the Navajo Nation who Sithe Global is doing business with, asked to deliver a letter to Sithe Global. Receptionists called the Sithe Global office several times and left two messages, but Sithe never came down or called back. The receptionists refused to deliver the letter but directed Elouise and Enei to a messenger center at a different location, where they sent the letter.“I don’t understand how the proponents of the Desert Rock Energy Project from our Navajo Nation can do business with a corporation that will not speak to members of the Nation who would be directly impacted by the project,” says Elouise Brown.“At least we know we delivered the letter, and they have an idea there are many Navajo people opposed to this project, and only a couple who want the project.”Outside Indigenous Peoples from all over the world who are in New York for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UN PFII), rallied, chanted, and held signs in solidarity with the Dooda Desert Rock Committee. Suspiciously, soon after the rally started, large moving trucks were parked in front of the building, blocking protesters from being seen on the street. Elouise and Enei were part of the Indigenous Environmental Network delegation to the UN PFII. Together, the group profiled the disproportionate impacts their communities face as a result of the expansion of fossil fuel development in their homelands, resulting in contamination and depletion of water, compounding climate change, and exacerbating health impacts.Enei Begaye said, “These are resource wars. These companies are occupying sovereign Indigenous territories, and not just in Iraq. In this country, from the Navajo Nation to the Arctic, the Indian wars continue.”The letter can be found at http://www.dooda-desert-rock.net/

Indigenous Environmental Network at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous IssuesPonca Casey Camp-Horinek delivers statement on fossil fuels and climate changeINDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORKAt the 7th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Intervention on Climate: Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 As part of the “Road of Destruction” campaign of the Indigenous Environmental Network, Indigenous grassroots representatives from communities traveled to New York City, New York to make a statement to the Indigenous Peoples of the world and world government leaders and UN agencies on the issue of climate change and fossil fuels. The following statement (intervention) was read to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on Tuesday, April 22, 2008. All statements were limited to 3 minutes and even though our collective statement should have been much longer, we respected the policy and limited our words to the 3 minute limit. Our delegation recognized many of the other statements given by Indigenous peoples from around the world. However, we recognized the link to fossil fuels was not being highlighted.

Casey Camp-Horinek, of the Ponca Nation was selected by the IEN delegation to read the intervention. As a member of concerned Ponca tribal members, Casey Camp has been fighting for environmental and health issues in the shadow of the international headquarters of the Conoco-Phillips refinery and the Carbon Black coke processing plant. After the statement was read, Casey asked for all Indigenous Peoples that are affected by oil, gas, coal and fossil fuel development, to please stand up. Almost the whole assembly stood up. This visual action demonstrated the need of CO2olonalism and petro politics to be addressed. IEN with support of Indigenous organizations throughout the world are demanding the Permanent Forum to call for an EMERGENCY WORLD SESSION of the UN General Assembly to address this issue (please see the Recommendation at the end of the statement below). Climate change is an Indigenous rights issue! INTERVENTION TO THE SEVENTH SESSION ON THE UNITED NATIONS PERMANENT FORUM ON INDIGENOUS ISSUES April 2008 Topic: Climate Submitted by the Indigenous Environmental Network, with support of global endorsements: Centre for Organisation Research & Education (Indigenous Peoples' Centre for Policy and Human Rights in India's Eastern Himalayan Territories Center for Organization Research and Education (CORE), Federation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Asia, Indian Confederation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, Western Shoshone Defense Project, Cabildo Wayuu Noona, International Indian Treaty Council, Asociación Indígena Ambiental, Seventh Generation Fund.

Thank you, Madame Chair, for the opportunity to address the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. I’m Casey Camp-Horinek a member of the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma. I represent the Indigenous Environmental Network, which includes the following affiliate organizations and Canadian First Nations governments that are with me today: Pa Tha Tah, REDOIL [Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands], Mikisew Cree First Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Tribal Campus Climate Challenge Youth delegation, Dooda’ Desert Rock, Fort Berthold Environmental Awareness Committee, Passamaquoddy Bay Defenders, Black Mesa Water Coalition, Tulalip Youth, Laguna Acoma Coalition for a Safe Environment. We cannot deny that the dangers of climate change violate the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. Climate change threatens our food systems and ability to practice our ceremonies, forces removals from our traditional lands and territories, and creates disproportionate health impacts on Indigenous Peoples. Climate change is more than an environmental issue to Indigenous Peoples. Our cultures are in crisis – the inability of governments to address the issue of climate change is tantamount to cultural genocide for our Peoples. The UN and relevant international agencies must address these human rights violations immediately. We cannot wait; climate change is a real issue in the communities we are from. We must build upon the discussion of impacts, and take action to create real solutions to climate change and global warming now. Madame Chair, while there is a very justifiable increase of global interest on studying climate issues and debates on its solutions, it is business as usual with the expansion of oil, coal and other fossil fuel development within our homelands. The international scientific community, led by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was established through a resolution of the UN General Assembly, has concluded that the burning of oil, gas, liquid natural gas, and coal, as fossil fuels, is the primary source of human-induced climate change and global warming. The Earth has already warmed by 0.76 degrees Celsius (nearly 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Most scientists warn that a temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) could have serious consequences. Above the 2 degrees level, scientists are saying this is the tipping point where temperatures and weather events will be out of control, with an acceleration of climate changes and global warming. Concerned scientists are now saying we are almost at that tipping point, within 10 years. For the well being of Mother Earth and future generations, the world must move more aggressively then it is now, towards a rigorous plan towards a zero fossil-fuel emissions level by 2050. Conventional fossil-fuel supplies are limited, even if we tear up Mother Earth to extract every last drop of oil and shard of coal. Tearing up the sacredness of our Mother Earth to get to the last drops of oil is not sustainable and violates every principle of our Indigenous Original Instructions. As Indigenous Peoples gathered here at the Seventh Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, we are in solidarity with many other Indigenous Peoples of every region of our Mother Earth in demanding a worldwide moratorium on new exploration, extraction, and processing of fossil fuels on Indigenous Peoples land and territories. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the General Assembly on September 13, 2007 and consecrates fundamental rights of Indigenous Peoples. Articles 10, 26, 27, 29, and 32 justify the following recommendation: 1) The Permanent Forum, through ECOSOC [Economic and Social Council] call on the UN General Assembly to convene an emergency world session to fully explore, with all branches of the UN, and relevant treaty bodies, in particular UNCERD, the multiple impacts of climate change and its link to fossil fuel development and the human rights of Indigenous Peoples, to include the topics of, but not limited to social, economic, cultural, environmental, health, food security, land and water rights, and treaty rights. Thank you

Department of Homeland Security Ignored Warnings of Harm to San Pedro River Prior to October 2007 Border Wall Exemptions

By Center for Biological Diversity

PHOENIX, Ariz— Newly obtained Bureau of Land Management documents reveal that the Department of Homeland Security ignored warnings of damage to the San Pedro River, prior to exempting the border wall across the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area from all environmental laws.“The callousness displayed by Homeland Security in ignoring warnings to damage a national treasure is mind-boggling. The border wall does not stop humans, but it will destroy the southern part of the San Pedro,” said Dr. Robin Silver, board member of the Center for Biological Diversity. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff exempted the border wall across the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area from all environmental laws on October 22, 2007.“The Bush administration keeps claiming that they are taking environmental impacts of the border wall into consideration, but time and time again their actions prove that sensitive wildlife and protected lands are being ignored and neglected in their rush to build expensive, ineffective walls" said Matt Clark, Southwest representative for Defenders of Wildlife. "The San Pedro River is treasured by Americans because it is a ribbon of life that sustains diverse bird and wildlife populations in an otherwise arid landscape. To handle such a fragile, important area with such disregard is reprehensible.” READ MORE ...http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

Illegal South Dakota state police occupation continues on Yankton Indian LandIncoming messages from Yankton protest:

I am Oitancan Zephier, a former police officer of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, combat veteran of Afghanistan and a father. Last week I quit my job when the protests started over the building of a hog farm by a corporation on private land surrounded by tribal lands. I quit because the Bureau of Indian Affairs will not help us. They stand and watch us get tossed in jail. The filth of the pigs will effect every part of our Indian people here.There is a headstart school 2 miles away from the hog farm. There is a kindergarten through 12th grade school 4 miles away. There is a day care a couple miles away from the site. It is a prejudice act granted by the state of South Dakota to these pig farm owners. We need your help. If this is completed they will assume jurisdiction of all that surrounds them. The already began taking our tribal road, which we have intensely fought for 2 weeks now.I have been thrown in jail while on our Indian land by a state officer. That is wrong!I am begging you for your help. If you can, please publish the cry for help below in any way you can.Contact me if you can help; or please forward this on to anyone who can help us.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------People! We need your help! Come to Marty, SD now! Help us fight the Longview Farms Hog farm and the State of South Dakota.We need the help of every nation that is willing to help us! Don't wait for an invitation. Please! Come help us now! We're too busy with things here to think of everyone that can help us.We have our hands full with whats in front of us. Call us. Make suggestions. Give us advise! Whatever it is, help us! We need bodies.We need people! people! people! We need people willing to fight! We need people willing to go to jail by a state officer on Indian land!Doesn't that seem wrong to you? I went to jail while standing on a tribal highway by a South Dakota state deputy, while the Bureau of Indian Affairs watched.That's what is happening! It is wrong! We need money for bail. Many more of our Indian people will be going to jail.If we don't fight this, Indian people will continue to lose land. Next time it will be your people. Remember when a cry for help came out what "reason" or "excuse" you gave.You'll get it right back when you need help. The system keeps us locked in place. It keeps us working, paying bills and plugged into society.In that mindset we're all robots programmed to do what the government wants us to do pay taxes! Give them money! "I gotta feed my family," you're thinking.I know it. I was too but overcame it. Tunkasina (the grandfather) knows that our fight is right and honorable. Better things will follow for us.This is really not about a hog farm! This is about the racist state of south dakota moving in the middle of Indian country and saying, "This is our road!"Tomorrow it will be "this is our land!" We need to fight! We need your help!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Meet the Resistance: A Speaking Tour of Affected Indigenous Communities

NEW YORK -- Over 3,000 people are attending the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) over the next two weeks in New York, including Indigenous Nations, UN bodies, Governments and NGO's. Three Indigenous communities present at the forum are voicing their concern against the worlds largest gold mining company, Canadian owned Barrick Gold.As side events to the UNPFII, Wiradjuri (Australia), Ipili (Papua New Guinea) and Western Shoshone (Nevada, USA) will be talking about the desecration and destruction of their lands by Barrick Gold. Please show your support by coming to the following events to hear about Barrick's exploitative and unsustainable practices on these communities lands, culture and life. These events have been supported by Friends of the Earth Australia, ProtestBarrick.net, Western Shoshone Defence Project, Mineral Policy Institute, Save Lake Cowal and Akali Tange Association.Indigenous Resistance to Gold MiningOur guests will make presentations, show short films and answer questions about gold mining on their lands.Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone (Nevada, USA)Neville ‘Chappy’ Williams, Wiradjuri (Australia)Jethro Tulin, Executive Officer Akali Tange Association, Ipili (Papua New Guinea) Thursday 24th April @ 7.30pm American Indian Community Center11 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New YorkSubway 4 & 5 to Bowling Green, Lower ManhattanIndigenous Voices Films and Speakers from Australia and Papua New Guinea Neville ‘Chappy’ Williams, Wiradjuri (Australia) Jethro Tulin, Executive Officer Akali Tange Association, Ipili (Papua New Guinea) Sunday 27th April @ 7.00pm Bluestocking’s BookStore172 Allen Street between Stanton and Riverington Lower East Side, ManhattanSubway F J M Z to Delancey Street/Essex,Indigenous Struggles from Australia and Papua New GuineaWedneday 30th April @ 7.00pm ABC No Rio156 Rivington Street between Suffolk and Clinton Streets Lower East Side, ManhattanSubway F J M Z to Delancey Street/EssexFor more info: natalie.lowrey@foe.org.auwww.ProtestBarrick.net

Dooda Desert Rock Members Walk With The Longest Walk II to Washington, DC

By Elouise Brown

Arriving at Amarillo, Texas, members of Dooda Desert Rock continue their walk with the Longest Walk II, along the southern route across the United States to Washington D.C. The Longest Walk II began their trans-continental journey in San Francisco on February 11th. The walk marks the 30th anniversary of the original Longest Walk for environmental protection and Native American rights.DDR joined the Longest Walk II as they crossed into New Mexico from Arizona. DDR president Elouise Brown reported that the weather has been unpredictable. Sometimes it has been warm and sunny, other times very windy and cold. In Taos, NM, the walkers encountered snow and wind, but they continued their sacred walk with the intent of carrying a strong message of protecting and improving the health of the environment for all people, and preserving the rights of indigenous peoples. The mission of The Longest Walk II is to carry the message that All Life is Sacred, Save Mother Earth. We walk for the Seventh Generation, for our youth, for peace, for justice, for healing of Mother Earth, for the healing of our people suffering from diabetes, heart conditions, alcoholism, drug addiction, and other diseases. Through the elements of the seasons, we shall walk through the rain, snow, over mountains, high winds, through the heat and cold. Nothing shall deter us from completing our mission: All Life is Sacred, Protect Sacred Sites.Let those who doubt, hear our pledge. Let those who believe, join our ranks. As we walk the final miles, by our side will be elders, families, children, people of all races, from many walks of life, from the old and the new America. All Life is Sacred, Clean Up Mother Earth.As we walk, we support The Longest Walk II’s goal: The Clean Up America Campaign. This campaign is an effort to clean up our country’s highways and roads by collecting debris found along the Longest Walk’s route. This monumental task will engage Walkers at a grassroots level, in a global effort to promote harmony with our delicate environment. Longest Walk participants will carry specially marked trash bags to separate the collected refuse into trash bins and recycling bins. A rotating team of walkers will pick up trash along the way with trash pokers leaving a health trail of earth in their path.The photo above shows a group of Dine (Navajo) representatives of Dooda Desert Rock walking with the Longest Walk II to Washington D.C. They need financial support while they represent the Dine people. Contributions can be sent to Dooda Desert Rock (DDR), P.O. Box 7838, Newcomb, NM 87455. All contributions are tax deductible and will help the DDR walkers continue to walk with the Longest Walk II until they arrive in Washington D.C. on July 11th.

Indigenous at UN plan Desert Rock/SITHE protest in New YorkPRESS ADVISORYPRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED WHO: Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and members of its Native grassroots delegation attending the 7th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous IssuesWHAT: Protest/Rally & Press Conference on Environmental Racism and Indigenous Peoples RightsWHEN: Friday, April 25, 2008 at 9:30 am WHERE: Sithe Global Power, LLC, 245 Park Avenue, New York City, NYWHY: To demand immediate action to address fossil fuel expansion and climate chaos on Indigenous lands, and support Dooda Desert Rock (DDR), a Dine’ grassroots organization in calling out Sithe Global Power in it’s plan to build a coal-fired power plant on the Navajo reservation.

UNITED NATIONS, New York City, NY – A delegation of Indigenous Peoples from the United States and Canada are demanding immediate action to address climate chaos and crisis. Twenty two youth, women, elders and tribal chiefs have traveled to New York City to participate in the United Nations 7th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. One of the main issues the UN forum is addressing is climate issues. This delegation is profiling the disproportionate impacts their communities face as a result of the expansion of fossil fuel development in their homelands resulting in increased greenhouse gases, contamination and depletion of water and compounding climate change. In solidarity with delegation member, Elouise Brown, President of DDR Committee, the delegation and supporters will stage a protest/rally at Sithe Global Power, LLC at 245 Park Avenue at 9:30am. Sithe Global Power formed and partnered with Desert Rock Energy Company to build a destructive mine-mouth coal-fired power plant in the Four Corners Area of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. It would be the third coal-fired power plant in an area where the community is already suffering from respiratory and skin ailments and other health problems associated with the existing coal-burning power plants. Although there is an Environmental Impact Statement pending, it did not incorporate or address what the cumulative impacts of all three power plants and the existing uranium contamination in the area, would be. A press conference will take place immediately after the protest/rally and will feature various frontline Native community members impacted by fossil fuel expansion.Speakers include: · Elouise Brown, (Dine [Navajo]) – As a President of Dooda Desert Rock, Elouise has been on the front line fighting a proposed coal fired power plant in her back yard near Crown Point, New Mexico. · Faith Gemmil, (Pit River, Wintu, and Neets'aii Gwich'in Athabascan) – As the REDOIL campaigner, runs an Alaska Native network opposing efforts of the U.S. Congress and the State of Alaska in their attempts to open the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to offshore oil and gas development. · Clayton Thomas-Muller, (Cree) – With the Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign, working with Cree, Dene and Metis First Nations from northern Alberta Canada speaking out on health, ecological and environmental damge to their Aboriginal lands from tar sands development. · Loren White Jr., (Hidatsa/Arikara/Mandan) – As a member of the Environmental Awareness Committee from Fort Berthold, North Dakota, is fighting a proposed oil refinery that is set to produce crude oil from the tar sands in Canada. · David Moses Bridges, (Passomaquaddy First Nation) – As a member of the local “We take care of the land” coalition in Maine, fighting the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in their attempts to site a massive liquefied natural gas terminal in their pristine Atlantic homeland. · Enei Begaye, (Dine and Tohono O’odham) – As Executive Director of Black Mesa Water Coalition, they are battling coal and water mining and are leading a Native movement for a Just Transition and Green Economy/Green Job Transition. For more information please contact: Clayton Thomas-Muller, CITSC (218) 760-6632 (cell)Elouise Brown, DDR (505) 505-947-6159 (cell)Jihan Gearon IEN (218) 760-1370 (cell)The Permanent Forum is meeting from April 21 to May 2, 2008 at the UN in New York. This is its 7th session since starting in 2002. This year the forum was opened by Bolivian President Evo Morales.For more information please see http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/index.html

UNITED NATIONS, NY - The statement delivered by the Canadian government yesterday to the United Nations Permanent Forum (UNPFII) on Indigenous Issues was a grave disappointment to the Indigenous representatives attending the UNPFII's special session on climate change because "it does not address Indigenous Peoples' rights, needs and priorities in real climate change solutions," according to Indigenous Environmental Network director Tom Goldtooth.Other groups represented include the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations, the International Indian Treaty Council, the Indigenous Network on the Environment and Trade, the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) and the British Colombia First Nations Leadership Council."What the statement shows is how little the government cares to deal with climate change's effects or stopping climate change. They announced their plan to reduce 2006 greenhouse gas levels by 20% in 2020, but this is too little too late, and will only mean further devastation to our peoples," said Ben Powless (Mohawk) of the Indigenous Environmental Network.Current impacts on First Nations communities were also left out. Grand Chief Edward John (Carrier Sekani) of the BC First Nations Leadership Council stated, "Canada is ignoring the devastating impacts of the mountain pine beetle on the lands, territories and resources of First Nations in BC." "Canada has stated that it is committed with us on climate change, so we call upon Canada to ensure the full participation of Indigenous Peoples in all domestic and international climate change discussions, initiatives and negotiations," concurred AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine.Also evident was Canada's unilateral approach of dealing with Indigenous Peoples after they begin to have problems. "Canada is happy to pour more and more money into studying us and how we adapt to climate change, but not with addressing environmental issues at their source," stated Beverley Jacobs, President, NWAC. "They are now telling us they take traditional knowledge seriously, but that they would never consider implementing it themselves. These continued, seriously misguided federal policies are going to be the death of us," warned Arthur Manuel (Secwepmc) of the Indigenous Network on the Environment and Trade.This comes after dramatic action was called for by Indigenous participants attending the forum. A representative of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug Nation made a presentation to the forum attesting to the fact that her community's elected leadership had been jailed for opposition to destructive mining in their community. Elected representatives of Aboriginal communities surrounding the Tar Sands were also attending to detest the destructive practices upsetting their homelands.For more information please contact: Gina Cosentino, AFN: (613) 241 6789 x356Grand Chief Edward John (778) 772 8218 Arthur Manuel: (250) 319-0688-30-

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

PHOENIX -- OK, so its no surprise, but it keeps happening. Reporters and editors keep asking for my comments and columns. Then those words are censored and stashed in the "Don't even think about publishing it department."The subject this time was not a funny one. It was the ongoing torture training at Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona. Two priests, Fr. Steve Kelly and Fr. Louie Vitale, just spent five months in prison for kneeling in prayer at Fort Huachuca in opposition to US torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo, torture in violation of the Geneva Conventions.A reporter for the Arizona Business Journal asked me to comment on the newest human intelligence training facility contract for Fort Huachuca, which went to Sletten Corp. of Phoenix. Here's what I said on April 7. It was chopped by the media powers that be:

"The United States government is acting like a dog gone mad with rabies. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has declared himself 'god' and voided all federal laws to build the border wall. Now, in a continuance of the practices which reflect the Nazi regime, the United States will continue to build torture training facilities at Fort Huachuca. It was here that the root of the torture manuals were produced that led to the rape, disappearance, torture and murder of an unknown number of Indigenous Peoples and innocent farmers in Central and South America, before the manual was exposed in 1996."The United States, in violation of the Geneva Conventions, has tortured people to death in Iraq and Afghanistan. While Americans sleepwalk, hypnotized by television and Wal-Mart shopping, their country is in ruin."As we make our way across the United States, broadcasting from the Longest Walk, we see that fear has been used to manipulate the people into building power plants and allowing oil and gas drilling on their own lands. The purpose is profiteering for corporations and their politicians. From California to Kansas, we have listened to the stories of a sinking and desperate America. The continuance of torture and torture training is another cancer in the body of America."--Brenda NorrellThe Contract:Sletten Companies, Phoenix, Ariz. was awarded on March 28, 2008, an $11,981.566 firm-fixed price contract for the design and construction of a human intelligence training facility. Work will be performed in Fort Huachuca, Ariz. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work is expected to be completed by July 31, 2009. Web bids were solicited on Jan. 24, 2008, and six bids were received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles, Calif. is the contracting agency (W912PL-08-C-0008).

PHOENIX -- The Arizona Department of Public Safety targets people of color, with American Indians stopped more than 3 times more often than whites, according to DPS own statistics.For Natives who drive in Arizona, or those who ride with them, this will come as no surprise. Like South Dakota, where Indians are also targeted in traffic stops, the term DWI, "Driving While Indian," has long been a reality.The statistics don't stop there. The traffic stops are not the only place you find Indians targeted. The jails are packed with American Indians and people of color. Military recruiters target American Indians and other people of color, making empty promises, when the reality is the risk of dying in Iraq.DPS data shows that Arizona police target American Indians.According to Associated Press, Arizona Department of Public Safety officers are more likely to search minorities than White people, even though on average minorities were less likely to have illegal items, according to a report released Monday.The report is dubbed Driving While Black or Brown. It was produced for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona by Fred Solop, director of the Social Research Laboratory at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.Using DPS data, Solop looked at 200,000 traffic stops on Arizona highways between July 2006 and June 2007. Of those, 13,271 resulted in searches.The report concludes that Blacks and Hispanics were each 2½ times more likely than Whites to be searched by DPS. American Indians were about 3¼ times more likely to be searched.The minorities were more likely to be searched although Whites were more likely to have illegal items than any other minority except for Blacks. Whites were 34 percent likely to have such items and Blacks were 38 percent likely to have them.In comparison, Hispanics were 22 percent likely to have illegal items and America Indians were 24 percent likely to have them. Asians and Middle Easterners had comparable results."The true test of democracy is how we treat people who are outsiders," ACLU attorney Dan Pochoda said. "We have seen a trampling of the rights of those persons in Maricopa County and throughout the state."A DPS spokesman wasn't immediately available to comment on the report.DPS collected data for the report under the terms of a settlement of a 2001 class-action lawsuit.

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About Censored News

Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell, a journalist in Indian country for 35 years. Norrell created Censored News after she was censored and terminated as a staff reporter at Indian Country Today in 2006. Norrell has been a journalist in Indian country for 35 years. She began as a reporter at Navajo Times during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She was a stringer for AP and USA Today and later traveled with the Zapatistas through Mexico. She has been blacklisted by all the paying media for 11 years. Now in its 11th year with more than 16 million page views, Censored News has no ads, grants or revenues. Contact brendanorrell@gmail.com

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The Rose of Love

"O FRIEND! In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love, and from the nightingale of affection and desire loosen not thy hold." --Baha'u'llah, Baha'i Faith